Daily Food & Ag Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of agricultural and food issues, including the GMO debate, conventional and organic farming, regulations, new breeding technologies and sustainability. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue pushes agricultural innovation as solution to world hunger
In a morning filled with inquiry, laughter and wisdom, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue conversed with Purdue President Mitch ...
Viewpoint: 2 reasons GMOs might be the ‘miracle’ Nigeria is looking for
As Nigeria gets slammed with another gavel of shame – this time called the Misery Index – we suddenly realize ...
CRISPR crops spur farming innovation despite climate change, water shortages and exploding food demand
The discussion and debate surrounding advances in agriculture have become frequent topics of discussion....[N]ow more than ever, the concept of ...
California towns fear arrival of citrus greening disease now threatening Florida’s orange industry
It may be only a matter of time until a deadly and incurable citrus disease sweeps through Ventura County’s agricultural ...
New North American trade deal boosts US agriculture, fosters biotech innovation, farm group says
When NAFTA was signed more than 25 years ago, it was the best trade deal U.S. agriculture had ever seen ...
Neurologist Steven Novella: Here’s what latest science says about glyphosate-cancer link
Glyphosate has been in the news recently because of the recent court case in which a jury awarded DeWayne Johnson ...
Biotech firms Amfora, Corteva strike deal to produce CRISPR-edited crops to meet surging protein demand
Amfora, a biotechnology company, announced it has reached a non-exclusive research and commercial license agreement with Corteva Agriscience, the agriculture ...
Video: Lab-grown meat could hit the market within five years
Lab-grown meat, cultured from the stem cells of animals, is considered by many to be a sustainable and ethical solution ...
Car sickness? How transportation harms honey bees, and what we can do about it
Bees have received a lot of attention recently, and for good reason. They face challenges from parasites and pathogens while ...
Farm groups challenge petition for tighter EPA insecticide rules, saying restrictions could hamper sound conservation
Nearly 100 organizations recently submitted comments to the Environmental Protection Agency encouraging the agency to reject a petition related to seeds treated with ...
Viewpoint: Bayer ‘open for looting’ as company battles 11,000 glyphosate-cancer lawsuits
The vagaries of American tort law were on display in San Francisco....as six jurors decided that Bayer AG is liable ...
Avoiding fruits and vegetables because of pesticides is bad for your health, dietitian warns
I wonder why during National Nutrition Month, when we dietitians are encouraging everyone to increase nutritious foods such as vegetables and fruits, ...
Speedy conclusion to US-China ‘trade tensions’ could foster farming innovation
It would be a timely piece of good news for American farmers if the United States and China could reach ...
From high-yielding rice to disease-resistant oranges, CRISPR-edited crops could save our favorite foods
Some of the foods we know and love could be gone from the planet faster than you might think - chocolate ...
Everything you should know about colony collapse disorder and ‘disappearing’ bee populations
During the winter of 2006-2007, beekeepers around the country began reporting unusually high losses of their hives. Between 30 percent ...
Bayer lawsuit: Plaintiff witness rejects EPA Roundup safety assessment as next glyphosate-cancer trial begins
At the start of testimony in what looks to be a long and contentious trial over whether [Bayer's herbicide] Roundup ...
Neonicotinoid insecticide ban fuels ‘big rise’ in cabbage stem flea beetle damage to UK oilseed rape crops
Oilseed rape crops across southern England are seeing a big rise in pest damage from cabbage stem flea beetles, with ...
Podcast: AquaBounty to begin raising GMO AquAdvantage salmon in US as soon as April 2019
A land-based fish farm in East Central Indiana will begin raising AquAdvantage Salmon, genetically engineered Atlantic salmon, as soon as ...
US Roundup-cancer trials spur glyphosate import ban in Vietnam
Vietnam has banned the import of glyphosate-containing herbicides after a U.S. court ruled that a weed killer, produced and sold ...
‘Impossible Whopper’: Burger King plans roll out of plant-based GMO burger
Burger King has a plan to bring in new customers and encourage existing ones to buy more often: Vegetarian Whoppers ...
Glyphosate-cancer legal battle raises investor doubts about Bayer’s purchase of Monsanto
Bayer has to pay out $81 million in damages to a man who claims the Roundup weedkiller caused his cancer, a ...
GMO tomato demonstrates ‘high levels’ of resistance to root knot nematode in new study
Root knot nematode is one of the serious problems in growing solanceous crops including tomato. Thus, scientists from the University ...
Controversial weed killer dicamba could have outsized negative impact on consumer perceptions of pesticide safety
For better or worse, the widespread use of dicamba is pushing an entire industry to scrutinize how herbicides behave, how ...
EU bans popular fungicide chlorothalonil, citing ‘high risk’ to amphibians, fish and bumblebees
One of the world’s most common pesticides will soon be banned by the European Union after safety officials reported human health and ...
How synthetic biology can cut nitrogen pollution and help reverse climate change
“I should say that I’m probably the doom and gloom story,” said the World Economic Forum’s Nishan Degnarain to laughter, ...
US Senator Todd Young eager to sample just-approved sustainable AquaBounty GMO fish
After touring a land-based fish farm that is preparing to raise genetically engineered salmon, U.S. Senator Todd Young is ready ...
Podcast: Plant geneticist Kevin Folta explains how to combat consumer fear of GMOs
Dr. Kevin Folta discusses science communication (the communication of science-related topics to non-experts). Part of his work is helping people ...
